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Twain once said:

"Principles have no real force except when one is well-fed."​
History, of course, has born out the fact that desperate people do desperate things. I don't know that there is any real dispute there. But as an intellectual exercise:

How about you? If you subscribe to some form of ethical or moral code, and most adults do, how do you plan on balancing that if/when things get dramatically bad?
 
Twain once said:

"Principles have no real force except when one is well-fed."​
History, of course, has born out the fact that desperate people do desperate things. I don't know that there is any real dispute there. But as an intellectual exercise:

How about you? If you subscribe to some form of ethical or moral code, and most adults do, how do you plan on balancing that if/when things get dramatically bad?

There are lines I won't cross no matter how bad it gets.

E.G., I may have to use lethal force to defend myself or others, but I won't murder anyone (murder defined as unjustified homicide).
 
Twain once said:

"Principles have no real force except when one is well-fed."​
History, of course, has born out the fact that desperate people do desperate things. I don't know that there is any real dispute there. But as an intellectual exercise:

How about you? If you subscribe to some form of ethical or moral code, and most adults do, how do you plan on balancing that if/when things get dramatically bad?
I guess it gets to where me and mine come in for me. As in threaten me or mine? I would stop them. Would not go looking for it but, if it comes to me? Sadly have done it before, would do it again, would not enjoy it but, would still sleep after.
One thing It seems Clemens (Twain) was a little off the mark on is when many are well fed for too long all principals seem to vanish. Look at the people looting and burning who are easy to see very well to do. They feel fine looting and burning while waving signs about the "rich", as they film with phones that cost enough for you to buy a working car for. When done they go home to a nice place to live. Where they are NOT calling the homeless scum in tents to come stay with them.
 
"Don't use force, get a bigger hammer" ....said any armorer trying to remove a bolt that was incorrectly inserted into a Ma Deuce.
 
I been places and experienced times when it was "dramatically bad"...

My outlook and way of life has remained about the same....
Although I have no doubt that what I think and feel now has been influenced by my experiences in less than congenial environments.

To give a somewhat vague answer....
I have done many things...which at those times , I considered to provide the best outcome for a sh!tty situation.

What bothers me most about these experiences is when :
I am judged afterwards by folks who have no real idea of the situation at that time or of me...
Not that I really care actually what they think of me or what I have done..
But I do care on just how their opinions can sway others or have impact on my life.
( If that makes sense )
Andy
 
Maslow's_Hierarchy_of_Needs.jpg
 
People have committed atrocities no doubt, but it would be a mistake to think either one of us isn't capable of the same or worse. Look into Carl Jung's concept of "the shadow": its always with you when when light is present and becomes you when all light is extinguished.
 
"Principles have no real force except when one is well-fed."
T'is the pithy thesis of an essay, delivered with Midwestern sensibility over brandy. Spoken, they are the structure built atop a foundation that may alter and change in appearance if the foundation is unstable. At their purest, they are the highly sought nugget in man's hand, in a mine, found while the lantern was out.
If your principles change depending on the circumstances, they weren't really principles.

What bothers me most about these experiences is when :
I am judged afterwards by folks who have no real idea of the situation at that time or of me...
Not that I really care actually what they think of me or what I have done..
But I do care on just how their opinions can sway others or have impact on my life.
Events are seldom manifestations of simple cause and effect, they are like rivers, growing with rainfall, shaping topography, adapting and modified by rock. History and politics are the simplification of those events, cherry picked and distilled to support the current moral narrative in a way the common man can understand in ten minutes as they sit on the toilet. It is refreshing when one encounters historical discourse without the imposition of morality or judgement.

"As you proceed through life, following your own path, birds will sh!t on you. Don't bother to brush it off. Getting a comedic view of your situation gives you spiritual distance.
Having a sense of humor saves you."
― Joseph Campbell
 
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"the shadow": its always with you when when light is present and becomes you when all light is extinguished.
And in the light, there are those who manifest the shadow to balance the energy. If you read The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Casteneda and the many authors who explored the depths of his ideas, you will find extensive discourse of those shadows.
 
Alexx,

"I guess it gets to where me and mine come in for me. As in threaten me or mine? I would stop them. Would not go looking for it but, if it comes to me?"

Agreed, but some take exception as in: Remain passive now matter the threat wanting (I guess) to appear Ghandi-like.

Being Neville Chamberlain-like is closer to the truth...and that policy fails every time.
 
If your principles change depending on the circumstances, they weren't really principles.

Yes, but... ;)

Human relations are not like the laws of Physics, unchanging. They are more like "rules of thumb", often a bit fuzzy and unclear, with valid points on both sides. For example, I like the libertarian "Non Aggression Principle" - but then you have to decide what actually constitutes aggression, and where the line is between aggression and defense.

To me the question is, 1) Do you have any principles at all? 2) If so, how readily do you abandon them? 3) How easily can you cook up excuses for abandoning them? 4) Can you justify doing what you are doing in public?
 
I've always been rather fond of this Mark Twain quote:
"When a child becomes a teenager, you should put him in a barrel and feed him through a hole in the lid. When they turn sixteen, plug the hole!"​
 
Yes, but... ;)

Human relations are not like the laws of Physics, unchanging. They are more like "rules of thumb", often a bit fuzzy and unclear, with valid points on both sides. For example, I like the libertarian "Non Aggression Principle" - but then you have to decide what actually constitutes aggression, and where the line is between aggression and defense.

pirates.jpg
 

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